ABC Election Coverage: 2005 Northern Territory Election

Araluen (Key Seat)

Alice Springs

Marginal Country Liberal 2.0%

MP

Jodeen Carney (CLP) since 2001.

Profile

Covers 54.3 sq.km in central and south-west Alice Springs, bounded by the Council boundary, Larapinta Drive, the Stuart Highway, Wills Terrace, the Todd River, and south of Heavitree Gap, the Stuart Highway again. Araluen includes the Alice Springs central business district and is named after one of the original homesteads in the district, which in turn derived its name from an aboriginal word meaning 'the place of lagoons and water lilies and running water'.

Redistribution

Unchanged.

History/Trivia

Araluen was one of the new electorates created for the 1983 election when the Parliament was expanded. It has moved around over the years, originally covering central Alice Springs, shifting westwards for the 1987 and 1990 elections before returning to the centre in 1994. The electorate was held from 1986 until 2001 by former government Minister Eric Poole. On his retirement, two Independents contested the seat, well-known local councillor Meredith Campbell and ex-CLP candidate Tony Bohning. The CLP's primary vote fell 27%, the swing after preferences was 17.1%, with new CLP candidate Jodeen Carney elected with a majority of only 134 votes.

2-Party Booth Result

The main booth at Gillen Primary School recorded a CLP 2-party vote of 53.0%, the second smaller booth south of the MacDonnell Range at Blatherskite Park recording only 47.6%. The CLP recorded over 60% of the pre-poll and postal votes, but Labor recorded a majority in the absent vote.

Main Candidates

The CLP's Jodeen Carney is a former local solicitor first elected in 2001. She holds the Opposition Health, Justice and Attorney-General portfolios. Her Labor opponent is John Gaynor, regional manager for the Department of Family and Community Services.

Assessment

A very narrow CLP majority for an Alice Spring seat, but without the 2001 complication of Independents directing preferences to Labor, Carney should be returned with an increased majority.